The understanding of my destination influences everything.

Books

01/22/2011

“To take photographs is to hold one’s breath when all faculties converge in the face of fleeing reality. It is at that moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.

To take photographs means to recognize – simultaneously and within a fraction of a second – both the fact itself and the rigorous organization of visually perceived forms that give it meaning. It is putting one’s head, one’s eye, and one’s heart on the same axis

As far as I am concerned, taking photographs is a means to understanding which cannot be separated from other means of visual expression. It is a way of shouting, of freeing oneself, not of proving or asserting one’s originality. It is a way of life.”

When one finishes a book that really digs deep and grabs your heart, your inner self, it is hard to put into words the realization that finally – finally! – you’ve found something that speaks to what you too are feeling but cannot express in your own words. After finishing The Mind's Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers , by Henri Cartier-Bresson, I had to put it down and ruminate on it, chew it up, re-read portions, think, think and think again about all the insights this great icon of photojournalism was able to put into words. What a great book! I still am going back to it to glean it’s pages for more!

The book is a journey into the life and thoughts of Bresson, probably one of the most celebrated photographers of the 20th Century. Written in three parts, Bresson delves into his thoughts on photography, art and life in Part 1: The Camera as Sketchbook, writes about his travels and travails in different countries such as Russia, China and Cuba in Part 2: Time and Place, and offers his thoughts on other famous photographers and friends such as Robert Doisneau, Robert Capa, Jean Renior and Andre Breton, among others in Part 3: On Photographers and Friends.

This little book – it’s only 107 pages – is a testament to photographic and artistic genius. It is packed with insights and vignettes of the life of an expert observer of the everyday and mundane, yet he sees the beauty and excitement in it all.

01/06/2011

Confession time: On many occasions when I have the urge to investigate my creative side, I feel burned out by everyday "things". Job demands, financial demands, family commitments, too little sleep - they all vie for my limited levels of energy and attention, much to my disadvantage. For example, we recently had family visiting and I was having to deal with the end-of-year fiscal closeout of our regional finanancial books. What happened? My reservoir of energy and attentiveness was depleted, and I missed prime opprotunities for "real" dialog and visitation with our family. It's a shame.

Is my situation one where I am destined to wallow in my perceived lack of energy or attentiveness? Or, is it a product of a poor attitude on my part? That's still to be decided, but I do like some of the thoughts presented in a blog post that I've been holding on for a long time that I found at the DoughRoller website. It deals with The Four Agreements. All touchy-feely Oprah comments aside (and this is rife with them), the post does have some good points concerning how a change of perspective of your personal situation can lead to improvements in those sitautions. The post itself deals with application of these "agreements" to a financial life. But, it appears they can be applied to other aspects as well. The Four Agreements discussed are:

12/18/2010

Our friends over at Craft&Vision have released their latest eBook entitled Light & Land, Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom. The Craft & Vision folks believe in improving your images by improving your craft, not your gear. These eBooks are a great value, focusing on the "meat" of the discussion without feeling the need for fluff to fill a normal book volume.

Light & Land is full of immediately usable techniques for improving the look of your landscapes. Even though my interest in landscape photography seems to be waning, this one gives me some inspiration for try again to get "that look" that I'm always hoping for.

I highly recommend it! By the way, if you purchase the eBook by December 19, 2010, you can get 20% off by using the promo code "Land4".

10/29/2010

I struggle with this a good bit. How do I find my muse dealing with the daily routine of full time work, full time parenting and full time “husbanding”? It’s a real challenge.

What about you? Do you have a hard time seeing past the daily grind to really “see” the beauty and awe just within a few miles or your home? What about your backyard? Just recently, I had the privilege to “see” something new in our own backyard – some Southern Flying Squirrels that likely have been residents for a while, but I never opened my eyes to see them.

What about the beauty of daily life? Our children’s laughter? Our family interaction?

One of my favorite photographers, David duChemin, has been struggling with his muse lately – most recently on a trip to Nepal. After several postings on his struggle, he posted about a new eBook called Close to Home, Finding Great Photographs in Your Own Backyard by Stuart Sipahigil. It’s “a 37-page book about the challenges of finding the extraordinary in what we’ve come to see as mundane.” The eBook is only $5, and with the discount code posted by David on his own blog, you can get it for $4 for a limited time. I have it, and it looks to be a great read. As so well spoken by David:

“So many people assume that the most exotic places are low-hanging fruit, and to a degree they are. But what if you live in that exotic place? At some point Kathmandu gets mundane and the idea of flying somewhere new is really appealing. Problem is, there’s likely a photographer right now in that “somewhere new” and he’s thinking the same thing – about getting out, pursuing the new, the obvious.

The images are out there. It’s not the scenery that needs changing; it’s our vision of things. It needs a tweak, a tune-up. And this book is a great step in that direction.”

If you struggle with the daily grind getting into the way of seeing the “mundane” a bit differently, I highly suggest you check it out.

06/08/2010

I like nice shoes, but I don't obsess over them. Ask my daughter. She can't stand some of my more "mature" shoes. "Their disgusting," she says. Disgusting is a popular word nowadays in Middle School apparently.

I've always been interested in the Zappos story. Mail order shoes? How in the world can one possibly get a good fit ordering online? Especially with my feet? I have long, fairly narrow feet and I'm an over-pronator. For the uninformed, that's not a good thing to be. I've not purchased from them before but, after reading this article about Zappos founder Tony Hsieh (pronounced "shay"), I have to try them out.

I'm also going to get Hsieh's book Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose (FYI - this includes my Amazon Associates link). The premise that customer satisfaction, or happiness, and employee satisfaction leads to investor satisfaction intrigues me. Makes sense, but is it really an achievable goal or is it tech-bubble idealism? We'll see.

I'll try to provide a summary and review once done with the book.

So, anyone out there have any experience with Zappos? Are you a believer?

The latest installment, Below the Horizon - Understanding Light at the Edges of Day, by Dave Delnea, is a great read for those who love the light from the "magic hours" of dawn and dusk. Getting the light right makes such a huge difference in the quality of photos, and Dave provides several examples of how different times of the day invoke different feelings and reactions.

I highly recommend Below the Horizon, as well as all in the eBook series. I have them all!

Now, my biggest challenge is to figure out how to get out and shoot at these times while juggling the responsibilities of a husband and dad. So many things I want to do, so little time.

David duChemin is a world & humanitarian photographer, best-selling author, and international workshop leader. David uses his powers for good and not for evil. This is his blog.

I love the way David ties together his passion, his career and his compassion into a blog and business that not only captures the essence of the places he visits, but successfully conveys the culture of the land and people…it captures the Spirit of Place as another great photographer, Bob Krist, espouses.

If you like David’s photo, head on over to his website, The Pixelated Image. I visit it daily for inspiration, education, resources and the occasional freebie (like the rainy day image and his monthly free computer wallpapers). Say hello to him for me.

I've seen great reviews of this new book by Stephen Mansfield - The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World. Just as I believe that creativity and logic/reason can coexist - in fact, thrive together- I also believe that benevolence and capitalism can successfully exist. In fact, it is under the model of capitalism that benovolence becomes most prevalent. Forced "giving" to those in need by confiscating the wealth of the fortunate via confiscatory tax policies actually stifles benevolence. It's a lesson that I wish our Congress and Executive Branch would learn.

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About Jonathan

My
name is Jonathan Hasson and I’m a man on a mission…a mission to
discover as much as I can of the blueprint that God has for me. So far,
the blueprint has held many surprises, some tears and many blessings. It’s
taken me to a place today where I sometimes refer to myself as an
engineer with a creative side hiding inside, dying to escape. That’s
probably an exaggeration...